


Oddities

by OdeyPodey



Series: College Nein [5]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, F/F, F/M, Family, Family Fluff, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:33:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27162542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OdeyPodey/pseuds/OdeyPodey
Summary: Junior year, college.It's gonna be a good year.Caleb can just feel it.Well, at least he hoped it would be.Guess it isn't turning out that way?
Relationships: Astrid/Eodwulf/Caleb Widogast, Beauregard Lionett/Yasha, Caduceus Clay/Caleb Widogast, Caduceus Clay/Fjord, Captain Avantika/Fjord (Critical Role), Essek Thelyss/Caleb Widogast, Fjord/Jester Lavorre, Mollymauk Tealeaf/Caleb Widogast, The Gentleman | Babenon Dosal/Marion Lavorre | Ruby of the Sea, Yeza Brenatto/Nott | Veth Brenatto
Series: College Nein [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1923904
Kudos: 17





	Oddities

_ Heart racing. _

_ Legs dragging.  _

_ His lungs felt like they were full of tar. _

_ Black, hot, tar.  _

_ Caleb looked around him, hair wild. He had to get out. He couldn’t get out. He could hear a name calling to him, upset, disappointed. _

_ Get out. Get out. _

_ He turned almost too quickly, slipping on the slick wood flooring and slamming into the wall as he rounded the corner. His hands came up, trying to stop him. Trying to slow him down. He stumbled to regain speed. His socks made this an exceptionally hard challenge. He never once left the walls side. He glanced back down the hallway, staring at the figure following after him. _

_ “Bren. Come back. You can’t run forever.” _

_ No. _

_ He could run forever. _

_ He had to run forever. He had no choice. _

_ Finally he pushed off the wall and beelined for the door. His hands began working at the countless locks that held them in the compound. Tears dripped from his thin face, soaking the edge of his sweater. His throat ached from screaming, from crying. He had to go, he had to get out of this jail. This… hell. _

_ “Bren.”  _

_ He shook his head as he finally pulled apart the last lock, charging out the door. He stopped only momentarily. His eyes shut from the sunlight, hard, beating down on him. He shuddered at the sudden change in mood. In sight.  _

_ Keep going. Get out get out. _

_ He looked down the streets before running. He had not the slightest idea on where. Maybe her house? She kept a spare key under her welcome mat. But he’d find him. He’d kill them. His feet cried out to him, the snow that kicked up behind his socked feet almost burned. He felt himself trip, stumbling face first into the snow before pushing on. He had to run, he had to move, he had to get his lungs to breathe. He had to do something. _

_ Caleb's eyes swerved to the woods down the road. It was risky, sketchy even, in this temperature. But it was worth it. He struggled to pull the flip phone out of his pocket she’d given him. She could keep in contact that way. It was safest that way. Tears blurred his vision as he tried to type in her number. With no luck he glanced back. They were coming for him. He could see the man calling back into the house for something. Someone. People. _

_ Them. _

_ His breath left his body as he lurched forward. He assumed he looked ridiculous. A tall, lanky teenage boy running in the shin high white, undisturbed snow at early dawn. His jeans were baggy and too big for him, his sweater clung to his chest loosely. But he had to keep going. He needed to escape. _

_ Escape. _

_ The woods were his escape. They’d protect him there. The trees wouldn’t judge him. He didn’t dare look back as he shot across the street. His lungs hung heavily in his chest as he heaved. Bile kept trying to come up but nothing was there. It stung at his lower throat. A hand raised up to rest on his chest firmly, to try and scratch away the feeling. _

_ Nothing was ever there.  _

_ He finally reached the uneven ground he was oh so familiar with. The rocks cut angrily at his skin. His socks were soaked through. He could feel chills taking over his body. He maneuvered around his “home”, hands brushing up against the tall oak trees. The bark splintered into his skin as he charged. It stung. It stung like a bitch. _

_ Keep going.  _

_ He collapsed behind a snow bank, nearly face planting down into the snow. His lungs struggled to take in air as he curled up. Tears dripped down the bridge of his nose and into the snow. He watched it dissolve under each salty drip. He grunted as he pushed up against the mound. His hands struggled with the keys, staring down at his phone. His fingertips were numb. Each and every touch declared itself in a way he couldn’t explain. Her number came like sweet music to him. He’d only had to call her once, but it wasn’t anything like this. He shuddered, breath coming out in shakes. His free hand pulled him into himself more.  _

_ “Caleb?” _

_ “Veth! Veth help me. Help me. Please.” His throat screamed in resistance with each word. They came out in croaks.  _

_ “Caleb?” _

-

“Caleb? Wake up.” 

His eyes shot open, squirming around in his bed to get away from the intruder. Whoever had come into his room in the night most certainly hadn’t expected such a reaction, watching them jump back. Frumpkin hissed, launching off the bed after nearly being sat on. His fur was standing at attention along his spine. His tail was fluffing out. 

“Caleb! Relax!”

“Veth?”

His eyes readjusted to the dim light, landing on the tiny figure in front of him. The windows shook against it’s wooden frame, banging into the wall. Wind howled outside as a storm was beginning to make it’s way over the horizon. The tree cast a grim shadow across her body. She’d jumped back, holding her hands up to him. She clearly hadn’t meant to startle him judging by her wide eyes. Her hair was pulled into two thin braids that Caleb quickly scanned. She looked fine. 

“Yes! Yes it’s just me. I heard you like… like having a stroke so I came to check on you.”

“It-” He looked around, realizing he was just in the guest room, in his bed. Safe. “It wasn’t real?”

“No. No of course not. It was just a dream, Caleb.” 

Veth approached cautiously, reaching a hand out to him before hopping up to sit on the edge of the bed. Frumpkin followed. She looked mildly concerned though hid it well. Her features were soft and comforting but her eyes remained the same as always. As Yeza would refer to these moments she was “shaken, not stirred.”

Whatever that meant.

“Was it the same dream?” She placed a hand on his knee, keeping the distance between them.

“It always is.” He ran a hand through his hair as his head fell, resting on his knees. “It always is, Veth.”

He heard her make a faint noise before scooting closer, next to him. Her arms wrapped around him and he collapsed into her hold. His eyes shut. His hands clung to her wrists to keep her there. This hadn’t been an abnormal occurrence, though it usually hadn’t happened that often. 

“It’s okay,” Veth whispered. She rocked slightly as she pulled him closer. “I got you. I won’t let them get you. Nobodys getting in this house under my watch. Yeza wouldn’t let them either. Okay?”

Caleb could only nod, pressing himself closer to her. Tears clung to his lashes as he felt them begin to come up again. A gurgly sob bubbled in his chest that he somehow managed to suppress. His eyes shut as he tried to focus on only this feeling and this feeling only. He could feel her chest rumble like a storm, the sound of her soothing humming reaching his ears.

“I’ve got you, Caleb.” She brushed the hair out of his eyes. “I’ve got you.”

This time, Caleb cried. He felt Frumpkin nuzzle up against his chest and settle into the little alcove his body formed. Something warm filled him as he laid there in the hold. Comfort? Perhaps. But it felt different.

Fear.

Fear that one day they’d find him again. And that one day she wouldn’t be able to protect him. And that one day they’d break in the door and hurt them, hurt him. They didn’t deserve to live with that burden. 

Veth brushed his hair back again. “Go back to bed. I won’t leave.”

So, Caleb curled closer to her, beginning to fall back to sleep. He knew she wouldn’t leave.

Veth never lies. 

Well.. Only on occasion.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello hello!  
> Oddities 2.0 here fresh and new!  
> -  
> Just a few things before I go on: I hope to get a new chapter out every week but content is coming really slowly to me right now :/ but I promise I'll try and keep a schedule unlike AIF,B!  
> -  
> A few things that are different: This is all going to be in Calebs POV. I think I just had more fun writing him previously so I'm gonna try and keep it this way lol.  
> I'm also not in the mood to get rid of poorly written chapters! To keep them, I'm gonna be writing a story named "Oddities Alternatives"! For the most part I'll write and rewrite a chapter like 10 times in different pov's to figure out how they work and then write the final chapter so to keep all of the other parts, I'll be keeping them on a separate doc so you all can enjoy the unedited, raw, writing for the other pieces to this chapter! Those will be more frequent as I don't have to edit them and I write them a lot faster since they're just unedited!  
> The Oddities Alternatives will give different looks on different situations with corresponding chapters and their titles alongside the work! I hope this is okay for you all :D  
> -  
> That might be it for this one!  
> I'll keep updates on my tumblr (odditiesnein.tumblr.com) and will post other things on there. I have playlists for the characters, my other fics, and then I'll also be posting other shit on there for this! Backstories are gonna be thrown in there too!  
> -  
> Thank you for supporting me, thank you for reading chapter one, and stay safe. Wear your masks  
> And Vote!


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